Dunn Busy Recruiting Baseball Players For Next Season

May 20, 1986|By Beth Rhodes of The Sentinel Staff

DELAND — As coaches at the University of Central Florida, South Florida and Florida International anxiously awaited Monday's announcement of NCAA baseball tournament bids, Stetson Coach Pete Dunn was recruiting in hopes of a better season next year.

Only a few weeks ago, Dunn was calculating his chances of beating out those three for Stetson's third trip to the post-season tournament in five years. With a 33-12 record, it seemed like Stetson controlled its own destiny.

And it did but not the way Dunn had in mind. The team crumbled not under superior competition but under its own weaknesses to finish the season 36-12. Dunn points to the second game of a double-header with South Florida as being the turning point of the season. It was the beginning of the end for Stetson.

The Hatters had won the first game to move within seven victories of a 40- win season with 13 games remaining. They were up 10-4 and it looked like they would sweep the day. Whether they grew tired or complacent, the Hatters watched the second game slip away from them. But with it they lost something more important than the second game: They lost their confidence.

''That game cut our heart out for the rest of the season,'' Dunn said. ''Within two weeks, we took ourselves out of consideration.''

Stetson dropped two much-needed games at the hands of a Central Florida team that seemed to do nothing wrong, and Stetson could do nothing right. The same pattern continued during a three-game series with Miami. On the trip to Coral Gables the Hatters played so poorly Dunn said they would be lucky to win a game if they continued play they way they did during that series.

''By then all aspects of our game had faltered -- the pitching, the defense and we weren't swinging the bats well,'' Dunn said.

''I don't think we stopped trying. I think we just lost confidence in our ability. The wheels were coming off. We weren't doing anything right. We wanted to win, but we had real doubts in our minds,'' he said, adding his team went out playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

The Hatters managed to pull out the final game of the season against South Florida, but by then the damage was done.

Before the final two weeks of deterioration, Dunn had felt Stetson could secure one of the Florida bids even if its record was slightly under that of the other three contenders based on its reputation and caliber of competition. Had the team begun the season with a losing streak and ended it winning, Dunn would have felt he could make a strong case for a bid even with the same final record. As it was, the timing was against the Hatters.

The downfall was a disappointment but not a surprise.

''We knew a little ways into the season we had some weaknesses,'' Dunn said.

The Hatters had jumped out to a quick 20-4 start, but Dunn was not deceived by the record. He knew there were serious flaws and the trip to California in mid-March for the Best of the West tournament exposed them.

Dunn was aware weaknesses existed but the main one came as a surprise. The bullpen was non-existent.

''We thought that it would be a strength and it turned out to be our Achilles heal,'' he said.

As long as the starting pitcher was able to keep the opposition in check, the Hatters were usually able to pull out the game. But if the starter got in trouble, the Hatters just didn't have the relief pitchers. That's what happened in the final two weeks.

''It was like all of a sudden everything caught up to us,'' Dunn said.

Considering the loss of key players, the inexperience of their replacements and the weaknesses of the team, Dunn felt the season could have been much worse.

''We played under hardship this year with the loss of Chris Dunham, our fourth hitter, and Jeff Henderson,'' he said. Dunham, a senior infielder, and Henderson, a relief pitcher, were both lost to injuries.

All things considered, Dunn felt the season was not a bad one. As he told the players at the banquet, the Hatters may not have been among the best this year, but they were far better than most.

''We set our goals so high. Because of our past success we feel if we don't win 40 games and get an NCAA bid, and if we don't play well every game, we've had a bad season.

''But you've got to put it in the proper perspective. There's not a lot of teams nationwide that can say they won 30 ballgames,'' Dunn said.

Dunn said the Hatters were moping around as if they had finished 10-45. He wants to consider the positive points of the season.

Even the loss of more experienced players can be considered a plus since it gave younger teammates more playing time.

''It gave Kevin Weickel, Ed Corbett and Tim Farrand a lot of playing time for freshmen,'' Dunn said. ''Now that the season's over and behind us we can count that as a positive thing. Kevin made tremendous strides. During the last two weeks he was probably the most consistent at the plate.''